David B. Kopel earned his JD, magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan, and his BA, with Highest Honors in History, from Brown University. He is Research Director of the Independence Institute, a public policy research organization in Denver, Colorado, and is an Associate Policy Analyst with the Cato Institute, in Washington, D.C. He is also Vice-Chair of the Colorado State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and a trustee, of the Anne S.K. Brown Military History Collection at the Brown University Library.

Kopel is one of several contributors to The Volokh Conspiracy, a group weblog of law professors, which is part of Reason Magazine. He has written hundreds of opinion articles for periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Denver Post.

He is the author of 17 books, and over 100 scholarly articles published in journals from Harvard, Yale, the University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, Brown University, and others. His topics include constitutional law, international law, criminal justice, technology, antitrust, media issues, and environmental policy. He has contributed entries to thirteen academic encyclopedias, and served on the Board of Editors for one.

His research has been cited by twenty-two state court appellate opinions, fourteen federal circuit court of appeals opinions (including opinions by Judges Kavanaugh and Gorsush), and over seven hundred law review articles.

In 2008, he appeared before the United States Supreme Court as part of the team presenting the oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller. His Heller amicus brief for a law coalition of law enforcement organizations and district attorneys was cited four times in the Court’s Heller opinions. His brief in McDonald v. Chicago (2010) was cited by Justice Alito’s plurality opinion, and twice by Justice Stevens’ dissent.

He has testified numerous times before Congress and state legislatures, including before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the Supreme Court nominations of Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.

Kopel appears weekly on Colorado Inside-Out, a public affairs discussion program on Colorado Public Television, channel 12 and has won three regional Emmys from the Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Before joining the Independence Institute, he served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado, dealing with enforcement of hazardous waste, Superfund, and other environmental laws. In 1998-99, he served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University. From 2001 to 2009 he was a media columnist for the Rocky Mountain News.

At Brown University, his thesis on Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., was awarded the National Geographic Society Prize.

GUNCONTROLANDGUNRIGHTS: A READERANDGUIDE (New York University Press, 2002). With Andrew McClurg and Brannon Denning. The first university textbook on firearms law and policy.

How Many Global Deaths from Arms? Reasons to Question the 740,000 Factoid being used to Promote the Arms Trade Treaty, 5 NYUJOURNAL OF LAW & LIBERTY (forthcoming, 2010). With Paul Gallant & Joanne D. Eisen.

The Licensing of Concealed Handguns for Lawful Protection : Support from Five State Supreme Courts, 68 ALBANYLAWREVIEW 305 (2005). State supreme court symposium issue.The Scottish and English Religious Roots of the American Right to Arms: Buchanan, Rutherford, Locke, Sidney, and the Duty to Overthrow Tyranny, 12 BRIDGES 291 (2005). Symposium issue.

Editorial Board and author of 41 entries for GUNS IN AMERICANSOCIETY: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HISTORY, POLITICS, CULTURE, ANDTHELAW (ABC/Clio: 2002). Named an “Editors Choice,” as one of the best new reference books of 2003 by Booklist, the magazine of the American Library Association. Currently being revised for a new edition.

Poisoned Milk and the Poisoning of Democracy: Some Cautions about China Trade and Taiwan Sovereignty. Presented at the symposium "Taiwan's New Approach: Opportunities and Challenges for President Ma Ying-jeou's Government." International House, University of Chicago, October 24, 2008.

"Taiwan’s Presidential Elections: An Analysis of What Happened, and What May Happen Next.” Independence Institute Issue Paper 3-2008. April 2008.